Trouble with Transdimensional Travel
by Pelinal-Whitestrake
Summary: The first thing I did was question my sanity. The second thing, was to make a checklist so I could survive... and the third thing? Prepare for the inevitable oncoming storm. OCI/SI fic. Co-written with LeShyWolf
1. Chapter 1: Introduction

_**Chapter 1: Introduction**_

Pov- Layla

"...honestly, you need to stop being so lazy-"

I put the phone to my chest to muffle the persistent voice that wouldn't shut up. Her incessant, crisp words continued to repeat, stuck on a record. It took me the entirety of my willpower to resist rolling my eyes at the same old lecture my mother seemed to push on me.

The puddle rippled the instant my foot stomped into it, splashing onto the bottom of my leg. Apathetic about the slightly murky water that had splattered onto my skin, I side stepped a middle aged Korean man that charged forward in the street, his balding head ducked down and lips moving at an impossible speed, speaking sharply in his native tongue. He seemed to ignore the drizzle gently dampening his grey suit, too angry to acknowledge it- or me.

"...Way- you should be on your way back now, it's late and you've seen the news, London is on high alert lately." I gnawed on the inside of my cheek with mild annoyance at her indefatigable worrying. She was the type of woman to be scared by a _leaf_ , I swear to god. "The key will be on the windowsill, be careful on the trains- and _text_ or _call_ me when you're at the front, don't use your key because mine will probably be in the lock and I don't want you to break it."

I made the motion of strangling someone in front of me, eyes shortly meeting the mirthful gaze of a man standing by the wall, he watched me do my awkward gestures with a twitch on his mouth. My face slightly heated up, sheepish at being caught out doing my moment. I scratched the bridge of my nose, passing the stranger and bowing my head in semi-shame. "Yes, okay."

"Alright, bye." Silence finally greeted me and with relief, I put my phone on standby, shoving the device into my jean pocket.

My mother drove me insane. She was so… overbearing sometimes. If it was a little, I wouldn't mind. Mothers will be mothers. But still- it was suffocating at certain points and I just wanted to be left _alone_.

I was out here because I was visiting a good friend of mine who happened to now live in Soho. He had recently moved there, so I was helping with a few boxes and moving some stuff around for him. I spent a week there, playing video games after helping him set the last of his stuff up, movie marathoning and just spending time with the guy.

Soho was an interesting place to _live_. After strolling down the streets, it wasn't even a joke how many porn shops and strip clubs there were. I didn't bother questioning why Mark decided to move here, knowing him and his… high libido.

It was time to go home, especially since my mother seemed to think I _moved in with Mark_. Which I didn't, but because I had spent so long away (mainly to avoid my family for a bit) she automatically assumed I had _moved in_ with him. She called me, then started to lecture me on how I wasn't financially secure yet, how I couldn't look after myself, how I didn't even have a job yet- and just kept droning on about how _irresponsible_ and _stupid_ it was.

I didn't know how I managed to survive her overwhelming nature growing up, but now it was starting to catch up with me. My irritation was growing stronger, even at the simple things she said that weren't even anger inducing- she just drove me _nuts_.

I needed a break from my family for a while- sue me.

My phone buzzed.

Fishing in my jeans for the trusty gadget, I pulled it out and switched it on. The brightness of the screen blinded me, illuminating the features of my face in the dim lightning of the evening. Whilst briefly scanning a message I just got from my friend, my eyes darted to the time to realise that, yes, it _was_ late.

"Fuck." I groaned, seeing the _23:40_ in the right corner of the screen. I had 20 minutes to get to the station or it would shut and I'd be stuck in Soho. To be fair, Mark wouldn't mind me staying one more night, he'd understand, but I didn't want another earful from my mum.

 _You should have left earlier. It's your own fault_. She would say, like always. I wasn't sure she knew what the word _fun_ meant _,_ or if she had ever had so much fun that she lost track of the time.

In my new predicament, I decided I would take a shortcut through Swallow Street.

My mouth struggled to hide a smirk at the choice of naming. I knew that the bird was the main reasoning for the title of the street, but my mind couldn't help but dip deeply into the gutter. Considering this was near Soho- where all the porn shops and strip clubs were, it seemed too convenient.

The street was surprisingly empty- with how much night life there usually is around this time in London this was a little odd. Then again, this was a Thursday, most people would probably need to sleep for work tomorrow morning.

The dark grey floors were adorned with dim street lamp lights which were occasionally planted along the road. A slightly eerie fog slithered around the atmosphere, making it a little difficult to see. I could only see one person out, from what I could see in their figure- male.

He was very tall, around 6'2. A messy, shaggy mess of brown hair peaked out from underneath the hood that was up around his head. His hands were in his pockets and judging by the hunched way he walked, shrinking back into his jacket- he was cold. I didn't blame him, with the light rain and breezy weather we were having tonight.

The way he was shuffling around, swiveling his head and eyes noticeably searching the area, I could guess he was lost.

My fingers curled over the strap digging into my shoulder and I paused in my fast pursuit to the station.

I knew I shouldn't have indulged in my curiousity. I knew that my mother would get pissed if she found out I was trying to help poor strangers out in the middle of the night- and think I was stupid for even attempting to. I could've been stabbed, I could've been kidnapped or raped or murdered.

Despite all of this, my moral compass twisted my feet in his direction and shoved me forward.

 _If you were lost, you'd want someone to help you_.

My teeth gritted. _Fucking… dammit_.

"Hey." I cleared my throat and raised my voice a little so he could hear me properly. His head shot over to mine and my heart skipped a beat. I kept my distance, nervously clutching at my bag strap. "You okay? Are you lost?"

"Yeah, actually." He let out an awkward chuckle, shifting his weight onto his other foot and squinting through the smog to peer out at me. "I really need to find the station, or I'm kind of stranded here."

I nodded my head, letting out an awkward. "Ah. Oh. Well." Glancing to the side, I held back a grimace, before making a quick decision. "Well, I'm heading there- to the station. If you'd like… you can... accompany me."

 _What are you doing? You have no idea who this guy is._

I mentally swatted the thoughts of reason and logic, suppressing a sigh at how stupid I could be. _He's lost and needs help- someone has to help him._ I swallowed a hard lump forming in my throat and relaxed my shoulders. "If you want. I don't mind."

He perked up at the offer, relief flashing across his face. "Really? I guess I'm just really lucky today then!" There was a slight pause, then he bobbed his head into an eager nod and walked a little closer to me. "That would be really helpful, thanks!"

Feeling a little more comfortable, I quirk my lips up into a friendly smile. "No problem, but we should be quick about it, I don't know what train you want but my last one is in-" I swiftly took out my phone and glanced at the time. 23:50 "-ten minutes. Shit, we need to hurry."

"Christ, that really isn't long." He looked off into the distance, before pulling a face of mild surprise, seemingly remembering something, before continuing with, "My name is Max, by the way."

"Layla." I warmly introduced myself, holding out a hand over to the tall boy. I could finally tell what colour his eyes were since he was right next to me, an emerald green.

"Nice to meet you, I like your hoodie, by the way." Shaking my hand firmly and rapidly, as if it was some kind of race.

At the mention of my N7 hoodie, which I had bought from ComicCon two years ago, my mouth involuntarily spread from ear to ear. "Thank you! You're a Mass Effect fan too then?"

At my question he nodded, voice becoming a little more upbeat now that we were talking about something we both had in common. _Maybe this isn't so bad_. "Yeah, I enjoy those games a lot, it's got a really interesting setting."

"Same," I agreed, ready to dive deep in depth about my favorite franchise when something glinted in the corner of my eye. "It's been a while since I-" I stopped walking, boots skidding against the gravel.

 _What the… hell?_

We were in an alleyway close to the station, it was hollow and dead. Just empty of life and slightly grimy flooring. Graffiti stained the brick styled walls and rubbish bins stood by the side squished up in the corner, with a rat skittering around underneath a pile of wrecked wooden crates. An occasional squeak emitted from the small creature, but I ignored it- more concerned with the gaping tear of blue scratched in the… _air_.

At the end of the alleyway, it gleamed, hues of green curling and waving slowly around the circular rip. It hung there, floating endlessly. No sound came from it- no smell, no... _nothing_.

 **What.**

 **In.**

 **The duckery-duck** _ **.**_

 _ **Is**_ **.**

 **That?**

Fear struck my heart, so much that I nearly stumbled backward. My gaze darted frantically to my temporary companion, wondering if he was seeing the exact same thing- or if I was really crazy. But judging by the shock that plastered over his features, the doubts faltered. Both relief and a fresh feeling of dread washed through me. "You're seeing this too?"

"Thank fuck, I thought I was just losing my mind here." He took in a deep breath and pointed at the tear "What the absolute shit is that?"

My hand found the wall. It was damp, grimy- and I was certain my finger touched a piece of used gum. My disgust was overridden by the urgent need for support, and to check I wasn't dreaming. I tried to find logic in it, eyes staring unwaveringly into the beaming mass of blue and green which swirled around. "I… some effect of the fog? Chemical reaction? I- I have no idea."

I peered over my shoulder, looking behind us-

 _What the fuck._

"It's there too!" I gasped, staring. "What in the fucking shit?!"

"I kind of want to poke it. Good idea or bad idea?" He turns to me quizzically after stating this.

"Bad idea, very bad idea- however…." I stepped back, _away_ from whatever the fuck it was. "Get a rock maybe, throw it at the… magical cloud of wonder. Hope it doesn't explode in our faces." I sent him a playful smirk. "It's fine. I'll use you as a shield."

"How brave. Here is hoping something interesting happens." He said as he scrambled onto the ground to pick up a rock. After finding a sufficiently sized rock, he got into a cricket bowler stance, and prepared to throw it.

"Wait-wait wait!" I held out my hand, my panicked voice was enough to stall him. He threw me a questioning look over his shoulder, I backed away a few more steps, then I picked up the grimy rubbish bin lid, grimacing at how gross it smelt. I held it out in front of me, shielding my face.

"Okay. Proceed." I swatted my hand as a motion for him to continue.

"If something bad happens, I blame literally everyone but myself!" He exclaimed as he threw the rock into the cloud, arm arching overhead from the throw.

It rippled and held onto the rock, before suddenly engulfing the stone, swallowing it whole. No evidence of it's existence left at all.

"This is trippy." I stated, gaze fixated onto the strange mystical fog. "Well… we're definitely gonna miss the train now."

"Yeah. That sucks." He pauses and looks around, noticing that there is no way around these strange clouds. "Seems like there is only one real action to take here."

"Use our phones to call for help?" I scoffed. "That'll make an interesting prank call, _'hello, yeah, we're being held captive in an alleyway by some weird magical cloud_."

"Oh no, I was talking about walking into the clouds in the name of great adventure and just kind of wing it and hope for the best."

I stared at him. "Oh, yeah. That's a great idea." I turned around. "Let's walk into the weird glowing fog! Surely nothing _bad_ would happen-" I threw him an emphasised look. " _-at all_. Right?"

"I am going to pretend that wasn't sarcasm and that you agree that my plan is perfect in every way." He grinned as he eyed the cloud, determination flaring in those green depths. "Besides, what's your plan anyhow?"

"Sit in a ball of panic on the floor and pretend I'm in a happy place?" I rose an eyebrow. "I hear Spain is nice this time of the year."

"You see, that's a really boring plan. What's life if you don't take risks?"

"Safe." I started, pushing my back up against the wall, glancing over at the cloud with a thinning mouth. "Not dying. Sane. _Comfortable_."

"Don't forget dull." He pointed out to the cloud, to help get his point across. "Who knows what could happen if we do this? It could lead to something exciting, or it _could,_ " he stopped to roll his eyes, "be dangerous. Point is, we don't know, but I think it's worth it to flip that coin, if you get me here."

"You're suggesting I risk my life," I slowly spoke, looking at him as if he were a two year old. "-over a coin toss."

"The alternative option is freeze out here in this alleyway"

"I'll take hypothermia over…" I wildly gestured to the cloud. In hindsight, it looked very beautiful and almost hypnotising to stare into, any other circumstances where I was far away from it, I would just casually sit and sketch it out, but I was stuck. Trapped between two of these things with a stranger in the middle of Swallow Street. "- _whatever_ the hell _that_ is."

"I don't know, I would rather take possible death over assured death. Who knows what could happen?" He chuckled. "You might get superpowers."

"This isn't a comic book." I snorted derisively, crossing my arms over my stomach. "If you want to waltz into the unknown- possibly get eaten alive by a potential acid fog, be my guest. But don't haunt me and say I didn't warn you."

"Well, I was only trying to make light out of a bad situation. Can't blame me for trying, right?"

"I guess not." I huffed, waving a dismissive hand. I sighed and leaned down, bracing myself on the floor. "Besides, I'm-"

A loud high pitch cut me off, I cried out and grabbed my ears, desperately attempting to muffle the sound. I leaned forward, placing my forehead against my knees, my head exploding with sudden pain.

In the corner of my eye, I saw something move. I lifted my head, noticing that Max was in a similar position, kneeling on the ground with a scrunching face, pain flashing in his eyes. We exchanged looks of panic and terror as the clouds started to _merge_. A vine shot out from one of them, then connected with the other. Many of these lines started to follow suit, soon forming a web. The clouds started to pull on each other.

They were closing in.

 _ **Fuck**_ _._

"Well, I think the choice has been made for us!" His voice bellowed over the commotion.

"Fuck my life!" I screamed over the screeching, then let out a startled yell when one of the vines connected with my arm, coiling itself around my limb stiffly. It was cold. Unwelcoming. Fear bucked inside me.

Multiple vines wrapped around my ankles, yanking me forward. I shrieked before letting out a loud string of curses, pain stretching over my back when it pushed me over and started to drag me to one of the fogs. I writhed, thrashing against the vines, fighting them desperately as my breath escaped me. "Fucker-shit-mother-fudging- jam- Jesus- son of- _**Cthulhu**_ -"

 _ **No!**_

But no matter how hard I pulled, how hard I struggled- the fog was beginning to swallow my legs. "Oh fuck me sideways- shit- no- please- fuck- fuck- _fuck,_ _ **fuck**_ _!_ "

Before I knew what was happening- everything was twisted. It was distorting and spinning so frantically, over and over. Black filled my eyes until I was completely blind. I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think. For a while, it felt like I was floating through some kind of empty void. My body was being stretched. It was one of the most strange sensations I had ever been through.

My eyes snapped open.

"Good luck, kid."

At first, I had to blink a few times at the person standing in front of me, with a warm smile. They were unfamiliar, but they looked at me as if they knew me. He reached forward, patting me on the shoulder before turning on his heel, missing the recoil that sprung me away from him, startled to all hell at what the fuck was going on.

My head swiveled around drastically, almost like an owl, my gaze wildly shooting around to analyze my surroundings, to make sense of _what the hell is happening_ \- of _what_ exactly just occurred. **What.**

My hands patted my arms, then my eyes darted down to my body to see if I was injured. I appeared healthy and normal as always- except for the tracksuit. I didn't even own a tracksuit.

 _Why the shit am I wearing a tracksuit_? _When did I change…. Am I losing my mind?_

That aside- more importantly.

I was…. I was alive.

I was here. I was **here**.

But…. _**where**_?

Where was _here?_

I glanced around and the breath knocked out of my chest quicker than lightning, it felt like a herd of elephant had just stomped all over my lungs. My hand reached out to the wall nearby, using it as leverage to keep standing. I couldn't process what my eyes were seeing-

I was on a futuristic docking bay, of some sort. Red was a very popular theme here- beaming lights illuminated the surfaces of every corner. The floors were grimy and it smelt like _shit_ , mixed with rotten eggs and maybe what I'd imagine a corpse would smell like. A rubbish dump was nearby, with heavy smoke rising above it, curling in the air.

Tilting my head, I spotted flying walkways and weird curved buildings and structures- I heard the hum of a _fucking flying car_ and watched it like a hawk when it whizzed by, coupled by a few hundred more lining up like normal, mundane traffic at home. My breath hitched inside of my throat for a moment, I couldn't do anything. I had to look away, I had to calm down.

A loud, banshee scream emitted from my mouth.

Inches from my face, were familiar looking avian features. Traits that an alien species from a video game had. Mandibles stretched out from his mouth, with some minor scarring on his left one. A metallic carapace with dark grey and black plates. No markings on his face. _Talons_. Then finally- a striking emerald gaze peered down at me from his almost towering height, freezing me into place and halting my scream out of pure terror.

"See, we totally didn't die!"

Those words made me briefly pause in my reign of fear. I stumbled back, wide, unbelieving eyes gawking at the turian in front of me. His voice was flanged, but had a familiar tone that unmistakably belonged to the boy that I was with in the alleyway a few moments ago. _It can't be…._ _ **Max**_ **?**

"Why are you freaking out so much?" The figure pauses for a second. "Also, does my voice sound weird to you too?"

 _Holy shit._

 _No way._

 _What. The. Fuck. In. A. Jam. Duck._

 _I'm dreaming. I fucking have to be dreaming. This isn't real._

Distant sounds of voices were in the background, the humming of flying cars blending in and merging with the muffled noise of machinery and thudding club music which was quiet but slightly coherent- it sounded like it was far away.

"Don't... _ **don't**_ freak out." My voice broke, trembling. I was talking to myself, swallowing another lump growing in my throat. "Don't… don't scream…"

"Why would I scream I mea-" He pauses upon seeing his reflection in the mirror. "Oh. That would do it." He practically whispered.

"Yeah." I weakly said, as still as a statue, standing there watching him. It was all I could do- it gave me something to focus on so I didn't fall over- or faint.

"Shush. Let's... let's not freak out right now."

"I'm not freaking out, are you freaking out?" I nervously stammered. "Why would I be freaking out? There's nothing to be freaking out about- I mean, we just- we only got dragged through a fucking weird fog and now we're standing in a place that looks very much like Omega- and you're a turian- why would that be cause to freak out?" I giggled, it sounded hysterical even to my ears.

He quietly mumbles "I'm just… going to stand completely still for a moment, and silently freak out. Give me a minute." And then began humming one note for a short while.

"Move out my way human." Stars exploded in my eyes when I was roughly shoved aside- I tripped over my foot, collapsing onto the floor. I rolled over and looked up, groaning. The person who charged by me wasn't _human_.

The _**batarian**_ sneered, walking off.

"Fuck me sideways up a mountain eating jam toast." I wheezed, holding onto my arm, I avoided the turians gaze. "Right, excuse me."

I stood up, using the railing beside me as support. I stumbled off behind an alleyway, ignoring the smell. I deeply and calmly inhaled, before taking off my tracksuit jacket- and screaming loudly into it.

 _ **What in the Jesus- Gordon Bennett- James Brown- bloody hell is going on?!**_

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

Hello! Thanks for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. This fanfic is co-written between me and LeShyWolf, who you should definitely follow and favourite if you enjoyed this. To give a quick understanding of this, the POV will shift between the two characters more or less every chapter, giving a slightly different view on things. Max's POV is mostly written by me and Layla's POV is mostly written by LeShyWolf, however we are still both involved significantly in writing each and every chapter.

This is an OCI/SI fic, if for whatever reason you found it unclear. Please leave a review saying what you think about this chapter and the concept as a whole so far.

(As an added note just from me, I am still updating A Woman and Her Wolf, at the point of writing this I have about half a chapter completed, so expect that somewhat soon)


	2. Chapter 2: Subsistence

**Pov- Max**

So this is something that I could of never expected, standing there and looking at the reflection in the dirty broken mirror, knowing that that was apparently now me. I mean, I could've take solace in the fact that I wam alive, or that I at least that I felt alive. That definitely was a pro. But then, on the other hand, I was in a body that is foreign to me in more ways than one, I had no idea what was going on and I didn't really know what to do.

 _Fucking stellar._

I already did my freakout though, I guess, so I felt like I should try doing something constructive with my time. Like finding out when and exactly where the fuck I was. I thought should talk to Layla about it, working together seemed like the best plan. Or at least, I thought that was Layla, she looked the same as before, except for the change in wardrobe.

Turning into the alleyway I saw the girl walk down, I found her evidently finishing off her own little freak out, seeing that the shorter girl wrapped her arms around her torso, then released a dragging sigh. _Different clothes. The same voice. Same face. But is it the same person?_

 _One way to check I guess._

"Layla?" I asked, my own voice sounding strange to my ears, which then reminded me that I didn't really have ears anymore.

Her eyes shot up to stare in my direction. She gulped and stiffened slightly, but gave the smallest of nods. "Yeah?"

 _That's a start._

"I need to make sure that you are, well, you. So if I said that I liked your hoodie…" I trailed off, hoping for a positive answer.

Her eyes widened a fraction. Her next words were dripping with uncertainty, gaze flashing. Her voice grew soft and she took one cautious step toward me. "It can't be ... _Max_?"

"Yes! Now… don't suppose this makes any more sense to you?" I said wishing that she knew what was going on.

At this confirmation, she looked like she was struggling to keep her balance, swaying on her feet. She put a hand to her head, clenching her eyes shut. "This is just a dream. This isn't… this isn't real- you're not standing there. I'm talking to a figment of my fucked up imagination." She paused, her next words were muttered. "Or I'm high. Mark, if you did something to my drink I swear to God…"

 _Great, she's gone delusional._

"I assure you, I'm no figment of your imagination. Or someone called Mark. I understand that this is fucking weird, but you're not exactly going to be much help like that, so if you could snap out of it, that would be great." I told her as I waved my now talon in her face to get her on track.

"Please, don't- don't do that." Her skin blanched when my talon moved inches from her face. She flinched and closed her eyes again. "Don't move. Just… keep still. I'm fine. Everything is _**fine**_."

Her breathing seemed to increase. She then began chanting quietly to herself, like a crazy person. "You're not real. You're not real. This isn't real. This isn't real. This isn't _real_. **This isn't** _ **fucking**_ **real**."

"Excuse you, I am super real. If you want, I can pinch you to prove it, but I guess that could actually really hurt now." I felt mildly insulted, as I eyed my now sharp talon.

"This isn't reaaal." She shakily sung to herself, putting her hands to either side of her head to muffle her ears. Layla moved away, ducking her head. "Go away. Go. _Awaaaay_."

"Alright, this is getting annoying now. I mean, at least you're still… you." Then I eyed her tracksuit. "More or less. Point is, at least you're still human, you don't have to deal with all this extra weird shit." I exclaimed, getting slightly angry and her inability to accept what was going on.

She still shook her head, moving away from me, she turned around to start walking, dodging around some bystander who shot her a harsh glare but moved on. "Nope. No. Nada. Not here!"

 _Fucking hell, she's stubborn._

I followed after her, not willing to lose the only other person I knew here, "Look, you can't just run away from your problems, you're going to need to confront this."

"Don't think I do!" Was her response. She kept walking, not looking behind her to glance at me. She swatted her hand over her shoulder dismissively. "Blissful ignorance. Yup. I'm good with that."

"Well, I'm not just going to let you leave. I will follow you until you realize this isn't something you can just ignore!" I was gesturing wildly at this point, trying to get her attention.

She stopped walking then, halting in her place before spinning around to face me. There were unshed tears clouding her blue eyes. Her features sharpened, gaze flaring with anger and twisting with sadness. She quickly collected herself, attempting to hide any emotions that were overwhelming her. The words cracked, betraying her feelings. "Just- _stop_!"

"Look. I know this is hard, but if you think about this clearly, you will realize I'm right. We need to work together if we are going to get through this." I was desperately trying to get her to calm down, fearing for her safety if she ran off in that state.

"And then what?" Her bottom lip wobbled, voice shaky. Demanding, yet pleading eyes shot up to me. "We join Shepard? We fight the collectors and the reapers? Become heroes?" She let out a bitter laugh. "I'm the type of person to trip _up_ stairs- what the hell are we supposed to do here?" Her arm arched out, gesturing to our surroundings. "Not to mention- we're on _Omega_!"

"I know, things look bad now, but you're overthinking it. We need to do this one step at a time, or else we're just going to freak out." I told her, trying not to make any sudden movements.

She sniffled and a droplet slid down her cheek, but she inhaled deeply and gave a firm nod. "A-alright. Baby steps." She viciously wiped her eyes, her shoulders untensing. _Good, she's calming down_. "What…. What the hell do we do first?"

"Well, the basics, I guess." I shrugged. "Finding out the date, sorting out somewhere to stay and some way to get paid." I wasn't to clear on ideas myself, but I was ready to roll with whatever happened.

Layla paused and gnawed on her cheek, then her eyes trailed me with an almost inquisitive expression. I could see the obvious question in her gaze, but even I had no idea what happened- or even _how_. Going through the weird fog obviously had some strong effect on me,I was a different _species_.

She looked away again, this time patting herself down and looking through her pockets. She pulled out a strange looking orange band. "What the hell…?"

Without hesitation she put it on her wrist- and suddenly it lit up. A familiar shape of a hologram formed, engulfing her forearm. Words formed on the screen. The words; _Welcome Layla_.

A slow smile grew on her mouth, exuberance glowing in her blue gaze, practically glistening. _Looks like someone has cheered up slightly_. "Oh my god. This is…" She tapped a button on the side, it instantly unfolded, making weird noises before opening onto what I assumed was the main menu. Layla tilted her head, quirking an eyebrow. A grin twitched on her lips. "Okay, okay… I admit that's pretty cool."

After seeing Layla whip out an omnitool, I wondered aloud "Do you think I have one?" as I patted myself down trying to find pockets on my strange turian clothing. After I located where the pockets where, I felt for objects, pulling out a slightly similar looking band, which I immediately slapped on my wrist.

I received a similar surprise of sudden lights along my arm, however my high-tech tool greeted me with a different message, with holographic letters spelling out _Welcome Maxius_

"Huh. I guess Max isn't a very turian name, is it?" I pondered aloud.

"Maxius." Layla read aloud, leaning over to see. "Hmm. Sounds fancy. I'll probably still call you Max. Might confuse the locals a little though."

"I'm sure it will be fine, it's not like nicknames don't exist in the future, right?" I said as I was thinking over this new name, memorizing it. "Anyway, I would imagine these would have to have the date on here somewhere." I guessed as I started up the omnitool proper and looking through it's functions, until a stylized picture of a calendar appeared in front of me.

 _8th January, 2182._

"Well, there you go. If you needed any more convinc- Layla?"

Layla's skin was paler than before. Her breathing had hitched. I was almost annoyed and concerned that she went back to her freak out stage and was about to reassure her again, when she cut me off. "Max."

"I know, I know- I thought we were pas-"

"No." She sternly met my gaze, having to tilt her head due to our height differences. "You don't understand." She sighed. "We're here a year _early_."

"I don't see how that's so bad. It gives us time to get ready, and to acquaint ourselves with all this." I paused to let her think that through. "And again, one step at a time. We don't need to worry about that just yet."

"So what now?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow. "We have omni-tools. That's good, what about credits? For a place to live? If we stay out here, we'll no doubt get murdered- or worse. I don't know about you, but I'd prefer to stay alive."

"Well, we need money, obviously, and we are going to need a job." I stopped to think for a moment. "It's worth checking to see if you have any credits on you."

Layla pursed her lips, emptying her pockets. "Let's see… hair band… uh, gum... and a card?" She took out the card, holding it up and flipping it from side to side. "I think it's a… credit chit?"

"That sounds about right, is there any way to check how much money you have on it?" I asked her, eyeing the card for visible indicators.

"I think I have to use my omni-tool to scan it." She bit her lip. "Because it doesn't say on the card. Do you have one?"

"Dunno, let me check." I went back to my pockets, this time taking out anything inside. First I pulled out some sort of snack bar, still wrapped up. I then dug into a larger pocket on my leg, feeling some kind of bulky object weighing it down slightly. When I pulled it out, the shape was unmistakable, a muzzle and trigger clearly visible, advertising the objects deadly purpose. I had a pistol on me. "Well, this is surprising."

"Holy shit." Layla breathed, staring at it with wide eyes.

"I guess it could be useful. I mean, I hope it never comes to that, but…" I felt the weight of the gun in my hand, and how surprisingly _natural_ it was to me. I had never held a gun in my life, but right now it was as if I had been using them since childhood. "Let's… put that away for now." I said as I placed the gun back into what I then realized was a hidden holster, not a pocket.

She eagerly nodded. "Good idea."

I went back to feeling through pockets, until I pulled out what appeared to be another credit chit, looking just like the one Layla held. "I think this is it." I told her, shaking the chit in my talons. "Time to see how much we have. Heres hoping a lot, right?" As I said that, I tried to give her a smile, but it felt weird on my face, so I gave up on it.

"Are you… trying to smile?"

"Yeah… did it look weird?" I sheepishly replied.

"Uhhh…." She averted her eyes. "Nah." She grinned. "You looked cute- like a confused puppy."

"Oh. Well that wasn't exactly what I was going for… but I guess it will have to do." I became a bit desperate to change the subject, feeling a bit silly about the whole thing. "So, credits. Let's do that." I punctuated this with activating my omni-tool and searching for the correct program.

After a bit of searching, I found what I needed, some sort of cover-all scanning device, that I imagine is mostly used for trading in credit chits. Holding the omni-tool over my credit chit, the program told me that it held two hundred and fifty credits. Unsure exactly how much that was, I tilted the tool to allow Layla to give me a second opinion.

"I think it's enough to help us for the moment." She said, sounding dubious of her own words. "Maybe our next step is to see how much it is at a hotel or something, also-" she glanced around. "Maybe we should find a cheap one fast, because I'm uncomfortable just innocently standing out here. We're easy targets- I don't care if you have a gun or not."

"Can't argue there, getting somewhere private and safe is a good idea." I also gave a quick look around, seeing quite a few aliens about, but none of them currently seemed to be paying us any attention. "Seems like we are going hunting for housing, then."

After getting the courage to ask around, Layla and I approached the nicer looking ones to ask if they knew where one could rent out a room. Well, it was more that I asked, while Layla kind of stood back, clearly not as ready to face this situation as I hoped. But we still eventually got the answers we were looking for, if reluctantly, as if getting any kind of information off people here was some sort of crime.

The directions we were given lead us to this towering building of concrete and seemingly random patches of corrugated sheets of metal. It reminded me of a block of high rise flats, yet somehow this tower made a high-rise seem downright welcoming. The whole building was tinged a sort of dirty orange, from dust, dirt and rust, while pockmarked with what appeared to be bulletholes. I supposed that beggars cannot be choosers, and I turned to Layla to get her opinion on the whole thing.

"So this is the place. Not exactly a mansion is it?" I said, trying to cheer her up with good humor, seeing how she had been at her wits end earlier.

"As much as it lacks aesthetic," she cracked a small smile, throwing me a sideways glance as she put her hands in her pockets. "Can't complain."

"Well I suppose there is no use just hanging around outside." I said as I made my way towards the surprisingly intact door, with it's strange holographic interface. While the door was new to me, the method of activating it was clear and obvious, the circle in the middle just had to be touched, making the door slide to the side, revealing the inside of the housing block.

The quality inside was a step up from its outward appearance, which wasn't saying much, as litter was still strewn about the floor, exposed wiring ran across the floors, walls and ceilings, and piping of an unknown purpose sent out steam from cracks and ruptures on their aged forms. To one side of the room, was what could be described as a reception rested there, with a damaged desk, a strange looking computer with what appeared to be some kind slap dash repair job done to it.

Sitting behind the desk, at the time not paying us any attention, was a turian. He appeared to be sitting down, distracted gaze engrossed with something on his omni-tool. The faint orange glow from the gadget illuminated his white plates, revealing the light amber markings that embellished his fringe and jawline, gradually creeping along his mandibles.

Layla made a move this time, shuffling forward. We both glanced at each other and she loudly cleared her throat. Piercing grey eyes darted up in surprise, clearly not having heard us come in. The steel coloured marbles flickered between us, taking a moment to narrow slightly. An unfathomable look flashed across his features and his mandibles twitched but he sat up, closing his omni-tool.

The turian placed a talon on the counter. He spoke, flanged voice crisp and polite. His icy grey eyes were unwavering. "Welcome to Canso Motel, I'm Matis Canso. How may I help you?"

The brunette beside me rubbed the back of her neck, gnawing on her bottom lip before responding. Though, her answer sounded more like a question. "Uh- we'd like a room?"

"Absolutely." He stood, ducking for something underneath the counter, his head vanished, his voice slightly muffled. "How many nights?"

Layla looked up at me for help this time, uncertainty written all over her face. Her voice lowered to a soft tone. "Uh… Max?"

Deciding to help her out, I responded "I don't suppose you have a scheme for people paying on a week by week basis? It's currently unclear exactly how long we will need the room for."

He poked his head back up, then paused for a second before continuing. "You can pay in installments depending on the length of your stay, yes. Weekly is fine. About one hundred credits per week."

I blanched a little at that, knowing that the money I had on me wouldn't last as long as I hoped. I turned to Layla, trying to judge if she was alright with this cost. She clenched and unclenched her jaw before turning to the turian.

Her flesh seemed to heat under the sharp stare of the turian. She stammered a little. "Uh- is it possible we may… lower the price slightly? We don't have a lot."

The turian tapped a talon along the metal counter. His eyes seemed to just keep staring, analyzing us. I could almost see the gears turning in his head, then, "tell you what, seeing as how you're my first customers in a few weeks, how about I give you a ten percent discount?"

I piped up at that, excited at the prospect of saving what little of the money I had. "Really? That would be great!"

"Thank you so much." Layla quietly added in. The turian nodded.

"What sort of room would you like?" He asked, tapping something on his omni-tool.

I answered his question. "Two beds and general appliances, something to store food, that kind of thing?" I was hoping that I wouldn't have to share a bed, the prospect being too awkward to me.

He nodded. "Alright, if you give me your details, I'll send the key to your omni-tools."

"Which details?" My companion questioned slowly, pressing her lips together nervously.

"Just your names, ID and omni-tool ID code." He told her.

Having already flipped through the omni-tool's functions twice before, I vaguely knew what I was looking for, having seen a data transfer application which was likely what I needed. Getting to it and activating it was easy, and it told me what information I had to send, ID and the omni-tool code being at the top of a list of files, probably for ease of use. Directing the tool at the turians omni-tool, and selecting the correct info, I sent over what he wanted from me, after which I checked to see if Layla was having any issues.

She was stumbling over it, fumbling with the holographic device. She looked up at me for help, looking a little sheepish as she clumsily fiddled with it. "Uh, Max… sorry could you help?"

"Sure, let me do it for you." I told her as I reached over to do the same thing I did with my own tool. Realizing that was likely an odd scene for the turian watching all of this, I turned to him to save face somewhat. "She really doesn't get how to use tech." I have a false chuckle, and added on, "Humans, right?" while I completed the transaction of information to Matis.

"Hey!" Layla nudged me lightly, but her face broke into a grin. Her eyes twinkled mischievously.

"What? You _did_ need help."

"Shut your mouth Maxine." She huffed, dramatically flipping her hair. But by the twitch on her lips, it was playful, no harm intended.

"Can't say I'm a fan of that nickname. At least use Max."

"Tough shit princess." She giggled to herself.

I sniffed at that. "Fine." I turned back to the head of this motel. "So, you got everything you need?"

"Yes." The omni-tool faded from sight, he put his arm down. "Enjoy your stay."

"Thanks. What room are we in?"

"Second floor, room 18. Third door on the right."

"Got it, thanks again." I told him as went towards the stairs, making sure Layla was following. She skipped after me, a bounce appearing in her step. _Someone is happier._

As we made it the second floor, I couldn't help but start snickering at the earlier scene we made. Spotting the door with a 18 crudely painted on it, I activated the same data transfer program that I used to give Matis the ID's, and sent the key to the door, which it recognized and allowed me entry.

Layla and I funneled into the room that we now had as a home, judging the room's quality. Quality that the room somewhat lacked. It had everything we needed, two beds adjacent to each other, what I believed was a fridge, along with a microwave oven and a small pantry. There was a small room to the side that I correctly guessed was a bathroom. However the room was unclean, and in slight disrepair, telling me that this wasn't going to be as easy as I thought.

I turned to Layla, able to talk with her properly now that we were finally off the streets. "So… is this crazy or what?"

"Nah," she smiled. "Just an ordinary Tuesday."

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

As I said in the previous chapter, expect a POV swap more or less every chapter, this time being Max's POV. Glad to see that people are already throwing out positive remarks towards this, it's very nice to hear people enjoy it. Updates for this fic will try to be at least relatively consistent, as I would rather not have people wait ages for updates again. Expect a lot of character interaction next chapter, as well as them trying to find work, which surprisingly is a lot harder than what they would be used to.

Anyway, as for some review replies,

ShadowAngel32- Happy to see you find it interesting, and hopefully you enjoy where this fic will end up going.

OnkelJo- I have found it's a whole lot easier to catch mistakes when it's co-written, as we usually pick up after the other.

FOODNinja-321 - Can't say I know the webcomic, don't know if LeShyWolf knows it either, but I don't think so. As for the 'crackfic style humor', that's honestly how I like to write that kind of thing, because honestly, that's how a lot of people amuse themselves in a conversation, it's more 'realistic' than everyone just being a stand-up comedian whenever the writer wants to make a joke. When it comes to the cliché, I can't really disagree, but in the long run, that scene doesn't really matter too much. It's there to set it up, but not really have much of a hold on the story, because if you want a more 'out there' beginning, you usually have to use an intro that will hold much more weight on the story, and that's not really what we wanted the story to be about. And yeah, from what I discussed with LeShyWolf, we shouldn't end up with characters that are too OP, or too weak, due to a dislike of certain things.

Blaze1992- Well, two answers for you there. The in story answer, is that you will just have to wait and see. The out of story answer, is just because that's how we wanted to write it.

Spiritstrike- Thanks! Hopefully this next chapter pleases you as well.

Toothless is best- I can respect that, I never really trust a fic by one chapter (Unless of course, it's a one-off)

Flick262- Well, it's still not too clear where it's going just yet, don't want to rush it too hard, after all.

Final note, just reminding you again, that this is a co-written fic with LeShyWolf, and if you like it enough to favourite, then give her stuff a try too!


	3. Chapter 3: Born Again

**Layla-**

The room was small, but I wasn't expecting something extremely magnificent. This wasn't Illium or the Citadel, my expectations were low anyway- yet… this wasn't very ideal living space. _Oh well, at least we have a roof and solitude away from all those… thugs_.

I let out an embarrassing shriek when a weird glowing bug skittered out of a crack in the wall and ran across to the ceiling. I found myself flinching away and pressing my back tightly to the door. I wrapped my arms around my chest, shuddering in disgust at the sight of it, knowing that I won't be able to sleep in here as long as there were _spiders_.

"Urgh," another shiver raked down my spine, I avoided thinking about what my uncle said about spiders and drew myself away from the wall. _At least 8 spiders in your lifetime will crawl into your mouth when you're asleep_. I didn't know if it was false or not, but the thought creeped me out. "Perfect."

Max sat down on the uncomfortable looking chair by the crappy, broken T.V that was mounted on the wall. "So, this place is a bit of a fixer-upper right?" Max stated as his gaze wandered about the room.

"No, not at all." The sarcasm dripped from me. "This place is a palace for queens and kings, I have no idea what you're talking about." I jabbed a thumb to the cracked wall. "That's an art piece and obviously the spiders here are our gracious servants."

"Is there actually spiders here? Or are we just talking equivalents?"

"It looked like a spider. Except it was glowing." My nose scrunched in revolution. "Any bug, I'm not a fan… except dragonflies, but that's dragonflies."

"Would be interesting if it was actually a type of spider. Makes you wonder how it even got here." Max said, looking actually interested.

"Go ahead, poke at them if you want. Get them out of here, that would be better." I shuffled over to the kitchen, which didn't have the best maintenance either. "I won't be able to sleep until they're gone."

I wasn't exaggerating either. I had my fair share of experiences with spiders, and if they ended up in the corner of my room, I could never sleep in the same room for like two nights even if they were removed.

"Then I doubt you will be getting much sleep. I imagine they are sort of everywhere." He stopped when he no doubt saw my skin pale even more and shrugged. "That's a guess, but I don't think it will be that easy to get rid of them."

"Fantastic!" I gave a wry smile, slapping my hand against the kitchen isle. _I'm not even getting a wink now_. "Thanks for that, thanks a lot."

"Well, I don't know exactly what you think would get rid if them. I don't think just picking them up and taking them outside will do the trick." Max said while eyeing the cracks around the room. "Besides, I think we got more important things to think about right now, wouldn't you agree?"

I bit my bottom lip, then reluctantly nodded. "Alright, I know- I know, I just… I _really_ hate spiders."

"Right. I will keep that in mind. I'm sure we could look into doing something tomorrow if it bothers you that much." Max explained, before wiping a talon in front of his face. "Anyway. More important conversation first."

"Like what we're going to do now?" I lifted a hand off the counter, cringing at the slimy grime that had stuck to my palm. I wiped it down on my leg, feeling gross. "If we're going to keep staying here, we're going to need credits and to get credits…"

Max stared at his arm, seemingly entranced by it. "Yeah, we will need a job. Going to be honest here, don't have that many ideas at the moment. I think we are just going to have to test the waters tomorrow."

My lips pressed together and I paced slightly. "We were left here with real ID's and credits and an omni-tool. We were left with a starter kit." I glanced over to him. "That doesn't seem too convenient to you? I mean, I know this whole situation is weird- _god,_ immensely so- but doesn't that just scream… odd to you?"

Max swept his arms over his form. "Trust me, I am very aware of this." One of his talons went to hold up his chin, pondering about something, before adding on, "I have some theories, actually."

"Well?" I pointedly stared at him, "are you going to elaborate?"

"Right. Right. I know this sounds stupid, but I think… I think who we are… _they_ were people before _we_ got here, if you understand." His flanged tones very evident in his voice.

It was silent after he uttered those words, my brain slowly processing what he had just said. Before I exploded on him for being crazy I stopped to think about it. It… slightly made sense. That we had omni-tools that didn't belong to us, legal (as far as we were aware) ID's already on our person- if we swapped lives with two innocent people in this universe, then that would explain why Max was suddenly a turian- in a weird way.

Still…

There had to be a better theory to explain this. Something more logical.

"That's crazy."

 _This whole thing is crazy_.

"Just think about it, I mean, you have been calling me Max, but that's not actually the name of this…" He stopped to gesture at himself " _person._ " Max looked like he was straining to think. "It's the first thing I could think of, it explains the change in name, body, the fact I can actually walk around without going flat on my face, the whole lot."

"So…" I felt awkward asking this, not wanting to sadden him. "Why am I still human? Why are you a turian?"

He just shrugged, seemingly taking it pretty well. "Short straw perhaps? I couldn't say for sure. But that does lead to another question I was going to ask you."

"Yeah?"

He leaned forward from his seated position, looking far more serious than usual. "Are you sure that you are still… _you?_ "

I paused, never having thought of that. My eyes travelled down to my hands, then my legs, my chest, everything in view. Everything was the same. I didn't feel different, but I had to guess, neither did Max. Still, nothing had changed except my clothing. "I… don't feel any different."

"If you want, I think there is a mirror in the bathroom." He said as he pointed over at it. "You can go check, if you want. I don't mind waiting."

I did as he said, striding by him and heading to the bathroom. I made sure it was locked before stripping my clothes and checking almost every inch of my body. Nothing was different. Everything was the same. Everything was nor-

Wait.

Something caught my eye.

There was a darker splodge on the back of my shoulder, a corner of the stain peaking out from underneath the brown tresses. Among my ivory skin it seemed to stand out. I moved my hair out of the way and stared at the mark.

Due to my startled silence, Max seemed to become worried and knocked on the door. "You alright in there?"

It took me a moment to answer. "Uh- yeah- I just… I found something."

"Do you feel like cluing me in? Or…" He trailed off.

"Right, sorry." I dropped my hair, allowing it to sway down and cover the unnerving evidence that I wasn't entirely… myself. "Just a birthmark. But… I don't have a birthmark."

"Ah." A short silence came between us, before Max broke it. "I imagine that must be… hard to realize."

I nearly laughed, yet my hands were shaking. "Please. It isn't as dire as realising you're an alien."

A muffled snicker came from the other side of the door. "I suppose so, but at least that's more obvious. At least I knew from the offset that not everything about myself was the same."

"I don't deserve to freak out as much as you do." I quickly pulled on my shirt.

"I think whether or not anyone 'deserves' to freak out is besides the point. I have decided not to do that, as nothing good will come of it. I don't know what you do to deal with stuff like this, but I recommend you do it."

I inhaled a deep breath before exhaling. I also closed my eyes and repeated this process for a few minutes before nodding to myself. I put my leg into the tracksuit bottoms. The bathroom door hissed open, I raked my hand through my hair. Max stood there, leaning against the doorframe. "I'm okay."

"That's good to know. I remembered that we never checked how much was on your credit chit, by the way. You may want to do that."

I walked passed him, throwing my tracksuit jumper over to the worn out couch before going into my omni-tool, loading up the program like he had shown me before scanning the credit chit. My foot tapped against the floor before the result had revealed itself. "200 credits."

"That's good. I see you didn't need my help that time either." It was hard to tell with his alien features, but he appeared to look quite smug and amused.

"Lose the smug grin, I'm a fast learner." I swatted him dismissively. "Nothing to do with you."

"Sure, sure. But still, that gives us a bit more time. It will help us live a bit longer without a job, which is a start. Possibly won't even have to wait that long to get away from here."

"We have to be careful," I put the omni-tool away. "Money drains incredibly fast. Especially between two people."

"I know, even more so with us two." He pulled out what looked like a snack bar. "This reminded me, we can't eat the same things. Your food will be practically poison to me, and vice-versa."

"I wonder if your food cheap or expensive. Do you think humans food will be less common?" I mused to myself. "Seeing as humans aren't exactly… incredibly welcome by some species."

"I'm not sure, because it's only turians and quarians that have the different food thing, while everyone else works at least relatively the same." He shrugged "It could go either way."

"I'm sure they probably have one credit pizza's in local stores, I hope they also have instant noodles." I semi joked. "Save us some money."

"I just hope my food doesn't taste weird. I mean, I'm not the pickiest eater, but you know…"

"Your… turian tastebuds might not notice a difference." I shrugged. "At least you're not a salarian, you might have to eat bugs."

He chuckled at that. "Who knows. Salarian food might end up being really cheap. You might be eating bugs."

I glared at him, dreading the idea. "Don't even joke about that. I survived on instant noodles for a month, I'll do it again."

The human-turned-turian raised his talons defensively. "Right, fine, I won't joke about that. But I would still be ready to… broaden your horizons, so to speak, when it comes to food."

My mouth thinned to a line. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

"Well, that's more your problem than mine, but yeah. Here's hoping, right?"

I offered him a shrug before stretching out my arms, releasing a loud and slow yawn. "I'm gonna go to sleep."

I wandered over to the other bed, rubbing my eyes before jumping into the bed. Reaching over, I pulled the pillow to me, shoving my face into it and also wrapping myself in the duvet. _At least the bed is comfortable_.

Max's flanged voice broke me out of my thoughts. "Right. I'm going to go figure out how to remove my clothing, then I'm going to bed. Guess I will see you in the morning."

I half expected my dog to be licking my face when I opened my eyes. His eager little cute face staring at me, tail wagging as he waited impatiently for me to get out of bed so we could go for our morning walk.

But he wasn't there.

My heart sank as I remembered my dire situation and I let out a sad, slow sigh. Pulling the duvet closer to me, I hugged it to my body, trying to ignore the lump building in my throat and the harsh sting in my eyes.

 _Don't cry. It's okay. You'll figure this out_. I told myself, then clenched my fingers around the cover before ripping it off, throwing the duvet to the side and swinging my legs off the edge of the bed. It wasn't time to sob and wail in the corner whilst hoping that someone would rescue me, it was time to _do_ something.

We both needed a job, what- I didn't know. But we had to have access to ongoing funds rather than the 450 we knew would drain very quickly. If my mother could spend 42 grand in a few months, we would probably spend our credits in a day if we weren't careful.

The door hissed open when I approached it, I assumed it was on an auto mode and swatted it aside, not quite used to having doors just _open_ for me in my own apartment. In the shopping centre, sure, but people didn't generally have automatic doors in their room and call it normal.

Rich people, maybe.

But me? I wasn't entirely poor, but I wasn't rich either. My family just had some left over. A decent amount.

Max, or Maxius, was currently sitting down on a ramshackle looking chair in the middle of the room, munching on what appeared to be the snack bar he found on his person before, pulling a face.

"Not like chocolate, I'm guessing?" I chuckled at the sight, finding the stretching mandibles and scrunching eyes a mildly amusing image.

He blinked at me. "It's not, no. I still can't decide if I _dislike_ it though. Just… different."

I offered him a shrug, groggily shuffling toward the small kitchen we had, opening the cabinet to look for something decent for breakfast. Only a few things were in there, courtesy of the hotel, I was guessing. Some bland looking cereal, along with bread and a few other things I didn't recognize.

I opted for the cereal, opening the fridge and taking out the milk to pour it into the bowl after I added the bland bits of grain. The spoon clattered against the bowl when I dipped it in and I wandered over to the sofa, sitting with my legs folded underneath me.

After one spoonful, my lips pressed against each other and I stared down at the bowl with distaste. It was so… _bland_. Hardly any taste. I couldn't complain, though, I had tasted worse and food was food.

"First thing we do when we get a paycheck from a job?" I crunched on the cereal, chewing through it. "Buy a nice steak, or have BBQ ribs." I pointed the spoon at him. "We'll call it Celebration day- since it's our first pay check."

"Well, if you are trying to kill me, sure." Max deadpanned.

"Oh, right." I sheepishly bowed my head. I forgot about the whole…. Human food is now poison to him. _Damn, that must fucking suck_. "How about the equivalent then? Or alcohol? Pretty sure we could both use a drink."

"Yeah… that'll work. I woke up about an hour before you, so I've been doing a little research using my Omni-tool. Mostly food related things."

"Oh?" I gulped down a huge amount of the cereal, swallowing before asking, "what did you find?"

"Mostly how to recognize what I can actually eat, and what would happen if I ate something I couldn't." He shuddered slightly, seemingly remembering something. "It's uh… not pretty."

"I bet." I couldn't imagine that such a bland box of cereal would just kill him, it was dull to eat sure but _killing_ that poor guy. It was hard to picture. I couldn't imagine how difficult it would be, to go from eating all your favorite things to suddenly finding out the next day, you can never eat anything you were used to again.

"You sleep well?" Max asked. "I was alright, but finding an actually comfortable position to sleep in was surprisingly difficult."

"A little challenging at first but once I found that special place of comfort, I slept like a baby."

"That's good." Max nodded, pleased. "Are you ready for today?"

"Not at all." _Different attitude. If you're going to survive, that's what you'll need._ I took a deep breath then grinned. "But fuck it, right?"

"Pretty much, yeah." He chuckled. "Tell you what, how about you look into work for now, while I get food, and we will meet back here at…" Max paused to turn on his Omni-tool. "Around 2:00pm, about five hours from now. Think you're up for that?"

I nodded, ignoring the slight squeeze in the bottom of my gut. "Sure."

"Right. Best of luck then. You have anything you want me to keep an eye out for? Particular food?"

"Anything?" I stopped for a moment to think. "Well… there's always pizza."

"Got it, if I find some, and it's somewhat affordable, I will get you some."

"Thanks man." I smiled at him before putting the bowl into the sink, washing it before drying my hands. Then I walked over to the door, throwing him a satirical salute. "See you later, then."

"See you." Max said, waving me off.

With my new task in mind, I took a determined stroll, holding my head high and my mouth quirking up into a confident smile.

That completely wiped off my face by the ninth time I was rejected. I eventually had a hunching figure, puffy, wide eyes and an exhausted paleness to my skin. My only clothing was smeared with grime and dirt. I felt like a zombie- I probably looked like one.

I had searched the area high and low for one single job and every single time I had got an almost immediate rejection. They all declined me, some without even me having to open my mouth. One of them purely looked down at me in disgust and gestured for security to literally pick me up by my neck and throw me out onto the streets. They had told me that I should go back home.

My lack of direction had me zipping round for an extra hour, which made me late back- and when I was about to sit on the ground in defeat, another human had appeared.

Only, not in the way I wanted.

The barrel stared me down, it's gaze was burning into my skull. I almost didn't move in response. The man with green eyes, almost as tired looking as I felt. His hands shook whilst holding the gun. He shouted something at me, but I couldn't remember what it was.

"Hey!" He snapped, saliva flicking onto my face. I flinched, wiping the droplets off my face with an expression of revulsion. His upper lip curled and I slowly looked up at him, my hope had deteriorated when I saw the gun dangerously nearing my nose.

"What- what do you want?" I stammered, holding up my hands. Fear rushed through my veins like a firework trail, my heart beating out of my chest.

"Credit chit. Now." He demanded. I would have gladly handed it over to make him leave me alone- but I didn't even have it. I left it with Maxius, seeing as he was buying food. _Fuck_.

"I don't have one on me." I defended. His eyes darted around, mouth thinning into a line. I took notice of his hands, which held a slight tremor. It lead to theories in my head, that maybe he hadn't ever shot anyone before.

He spat. "Bullshit. Hand it over. This gun's real, you know." I swallowed the lump in my throat, lifting my weak feeling arms a little higher. But slowly. He took a small step forward, pressing the cold gun against my temple. " _Don't_ move."

"Okay-okay!" I gritted my teeth, squishing down the sense of panic building up to an overwhelming burst in my chest. "Search me if you want- I don't have one, I'm telling the truth. I'm piss poor."

I glanced at the torn trousers, taking note of the horrendous smell and gaunt face.

 _By the looks of it, so are you_.

But I didn't say that to the guy with the gun, for fear he'd squeeze that trigger.

I had wondered, briefly, if I died here- would I be resurrected in my old life….?

I shuddered at the thought I was wrong, not wanting to risk or test that idea.

He actually did as I said, keeping one shaky hand on the gun, whilst the other moved to my side, then to my leg. A bitter taste entered my mouth when his hand brushed up along the side of my breast, knowing full well he didn't have to check that area. But I took this distraction to my full advantage, getting a little closer to him so he could see down my vest top a little better. He paused, I assumed he had spotted the movement, then I went to snatch the gun out of the fucker's hands.

However, the motion caught him off guard, causing him to recoil and squeeze the trigger.

What sounded like a _booming_ crash of thunder emitted from the weapon, and we both fell back onto the floor. A high pitched shrieking exploded in my ear and I gripped it with a panic, feeling a throbbing pain stretch across my skull.

There was muffled speaking, and I looked over to see him crawling to the gun he had dropped in the struggle.

Ignoring the screaming in my ear, I rolled over and climbed onto his back, threading my fingers through his hair to lift up his head, before plummeting it down onto the hard metal flooring.

There was a crack along with the thud, and a cry of pain.

Guilt ate at me, and I hesitated- but regretted not smashing his face even more into the ground when he flipped me over, pushing my back onto the floor. I gasped and he got on top of me, quickly coiling his calloused fingers around my throat.

 _Fuck_.

 _Fuck!_

He clasped tighter and tighter until spots started to fizz in my vision, all whilst my hand slammed on the ground, my other digging my nails into his skin. Blood dripped from him, but he didn't care and kept strangling me.

I grew dizzy and wheezed, struggling for air. A harsh, pure sense of panic built up inside of me, scratching at my lungs and making me thrash desperately against the stranger. I tried to scream but it came out a strained, whispering groan. He bared his teeth in a snarl and said something I couldn't hear.

Blackness started to fill my gaze, like a curtain.

My finger touched something mechanical, cold.

A few wiggles later- and I grasped it in my hand.

Then, with the rest of my remaining strength I slapped it across his head. He grunted, flinching back and falling to the side. I went into a coughing fit, wheezing for breath and gasping. He laid on the ground, but reached up to the bead of blood that dripped down his head before cursing.

I aimed the gun.

"No, wait-!" His eyes grew wide, he held out a hand toward me.

Without thinking, I pulled the trigger.

He lifelessly fell to the floor, hole in the middle of his forehead. I watched his frozen, terrified eyes stare up at me. Blood slowly pooled around his head.

I merely looked at him for a long while, as if my own eyes couldn't believe the image in front of me. I hadn't let go of the gun, it was tightly held in my hand, whilst the other hung uselessly by my other side.

"Fuck." I shakily whispered, hunching over and trying to keep the bile down my throat, trying to ignore that the blood splattered onto my clothing.

 _I need to get out of here._

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

Seems like Layla is not having a good time, does it? Omega isn't exactly the nicest of places, as she has now been reminded. Max on the other hand seems to be taking everything a whole lot better, but what will he think about what happened? I guess you will have to wait to find out.

You may of noticed the updates for this has actually kept to a schedule! And we will attempt to keep it this way for as long as we can, though we cannot promise anything. Anyway, onto responding to any reviews.

Toothless is best- Cool, hopefully you will like where the story is going too.

tomce795- I know right? I'm surprised how little stories actually decide to change the species of the OCI/SI, and then, there are even less which are actually _good_. Good to know you like the characters, and their interactions. Can't be much worse than having main characters that people don't like.

FOODninja-321 - You will be getting a perspective flip more or less every chapter, outside of in-story events. And I might check out that webcomic, no promises though.

a guest- Seems like people like the perspective flips, which is nice. Thanks for the complements!

And a reminder yet again, this is co-written with LeShyWolf. Check out her stuff if you like this story, as well as my other fic!


	4. Chapter 4: Among Lost Souls

_**Chapter 4: Among Lost Souls**_

Max~

After Layla left to go find possible work, it left me to my thoughts. I wasn't as rushed as she was when it came to time, as buying food wouldn't take nearly as long as what I sent her off to do. Looking back on it, we should of switched roles, but I didn't really want to trust her with buying food when even a small mistake could lead to extreme illness all the way to death on my part.

Thinking back to the research I did on the omni-tool when Layla was still asleep, I went over in my head the different typical turian foods, reminding myself exactly what I should be looking for, and what meal it would fulfill. Human food was much easier to remember, thanks to my years of experience as a human myself. Thinking about it made me feel a pang of sadness, knowing that I could never eat my favourite foods again, but I steeled myself and tried not to harbour such negative thoughts about my situation.

Actually buying the food itself was easy, and relatively uneventful. Most of the places I found that sold food reminded me of those foreign market stalls you always see when travelling abroad, though one or two of the places I found resembled the corner shops I was more used to, if simultaneously more futuristic and run-down.

I was quite pleased with my little haul actually, as I had got quite a bit of relatively alright looking turian food, and as it turns out, pots of instant noodles are quite popular and cheap as all hell, meaning I had some food that Layla would be pleased with too.

As I walked back with the food I purchased, I noticed a tall imposing looking turian, blue markings on his face, but that wasn't what drew my attention. He was wearing this heavy set of armour, coloured mostly blue with white circles and lines around it. I realized that I actually recognized this armour, being representative of the Blue Suns mercenary group.

For obvious reasons, I didn't want to be around this person, both because of the implications that the armour he wore held, and that he had a proper assault rifle on his back, and could of probably killed me as easily as one might snap a finger, or talon, in my case.

Before I could slowly and carefully go another way, he noticed my presence, and called over to me. "Hey! You!" His tone didn't seem threatening, but that didn't make me feel any safer.

Deciding that doing what they wanted would make the safest situation out of all the actions I could of taken, I replied. "Yes? You're talking to me, right?"

 _I really hope he isn't._

"Of course I'm talking to you." The Blue Sun answered, filling me with the slightest feeling of dread. "I got something I want to ask you."

 _Good things do not normally come from that statement._

Trying to play it cool, I decided to run with it. "Sure, what do you need?" I hoped acting polite and non-confrontational would get me off with a mild threat at worst, and it seemed to pay off, but not in the way I expected.

"I don't suppose you're looking for work?"

"I am actually, why do you ask?" I was beginning to think that I was absurdly lucky. I managed to get some decent food relatively cheap, and then it seemed I actually was having people coming up to me with job offers, instead of the other way round.

"Just letting you know that the Blue Suns are recruiting at the moment." He stopped and swept his talon over his armour, as if it wasn't abundantly clear who he worked for. "Don't worry if you don't have too much combat experience, we train the new recruits on the job."

 _That… could actually be a possibility. I mean yeah, I'm not exactly ready for that kind of thing, but it's an option for sure._

"I will definitely consider it, thanks." I told him, and he sent me a little digital leaflet over omni-tool, detailing exactly where to go and when you had to apply by, as well as general information about the job. It was surprisingly professional and tame looking considering it was for a group of space-criminal mercenaries, actually.

The rest of the trip back to the room Layla and I had bought was uneventful, leaving me in decently high spirits. When I actually got back to the room, I first made sure to store away all the food, making a conscious effort to keep mine and Layla's food apart from each other, not willing to risk cross-contamination.

I slumped down on the couch, checking my handy holographic tool for the time. I noticed that I had got back about two hours before we were supposed to actually meet up, but that didn't surprise me too much, my job being the far less time consuming of the two.

I decided to spend the time familiarizing myself with the wrist mounted super-tool, looking at the different features it had, how they worked, and I even had a little look on how all the omni-tool hacking tricks worked. I didn't really understand them at the time, but it was clear to me that it was something that I could end up learning.

This took up quite a lot of time, enough that it actually went past the time we were supposed to come back here by, and I didn't even notice til about thirty minutes after said time. I eventually backed out of the extranet, and noticed the time.

"Fuck." I told myself. "She should be here by now." I got up, and started to pace a little, actually beginning to get worried. "I mean, she could just be late. Or perhaps she found a job, and is already working?" I tried to legitimize her absence, the excuses sounded poor to me.

"What am I talking about. I fucked up." I held my head in my talons. "I shouldn't let her out on her own, I mean, just being killed is one of the _nicer_ things that could happen to you here, for fucks sake." I felt horrible, having felt like I doomed the only person I knew here that I could relate with to a likely horrible death.

My mind was racing with thoughts on what could've happened to her, quickly leading to the darkest possible outcomes, like slavery and a slow death. I couldn't keep my usually more optimistic thoughts, due to the harm someone had come over because I didn't think things through enough.

I was close to taking out my gun and charging out the front door- when I heard a hiss.

The front door opened to reveal a familiar looking companion of mine. Except, something was different. Her skin seemed to be paler than normal, unseeing eyes staring at the floor with shaky hands either side of her. The more prominent detail that I instantly spotted and put ice into my veins- was the blood splattered onto her clothes.

She looked like a zombie.

She didn't say anything. She just took a few steps, heading toward the bathroom, feet shuffling along the floor. She stumbled, hand tightly grasping the wall- which smeared a crimson stain across it.

Dreading the worst, I ran over to her, immediately trying to help her out in any way I could. "Layla! What happened? Are you alright?" The questions came out my mouth in quick succession.

Her shoulders were quaking but she stiffly nodded, attempting to move passed me. "I… nothing. I'm fine."

Not willing to let her brush me off after such an obvious lie, I blocked her path. "Layla… you're covered in blood, and you're pale. You are obviously not ok. Tell me what happened."

She was quiet again, then clenched her jaw. Her eyes watered, but no tears fell. "I…. someone tried to shoot me."

 _Tried_.

Eyeing the blood on her person, I was slightly confused, but I had an idea of what could've happened. "What happened exactly? I can't help you if you don't say anything."

Her voice was so soft I almost didn't hear her. "It was him or me…. I had to."

While that still didn't tell me exactly what happened, it was easy to fill in the blanks. "I'm… I'm so sorry that you had to do that. I shouldn't of let you go it alone." I wasn't too sure what to actually tell her, not used to having to comfort someone after they killed another person in self defence.

"It's okay." She muttered. "I want to… wash the blood… I want to get it off."

"Alright." I didn't want to rush her, she clearly wasn't in a very good mindset, and I had to tread carefully not to upset her even more. "Just… we can talk after, all right? I don't want you to think you're on you're own."

She nodded, then quickly skittered off. A few minutes later, I could distantly hear running water through the slight gap in the door. I sat on the cruddy couch, my foreign hand pressing against my forehead.

This was fucked.

I really shouldn't of let her go on her own. I had the gun, for what good it would of done. I was the more physically imposing of the two, if I was there, I imagine whatever the situation was, it wouldn't have happened. But, of course, I was a fucking idiot and did exactly zero planning beyond 'wing it' like I always did and it backfired. A plan backfiring on myself was one thing, but to backfire on an innocent person whom I barely knew? Not exactly fair to them.

But then, would I be able to deal with such situations any better than she did? I mean, sure, I had a gun, but I didn't know how to use it. I had never shot a person, let alone killed one. I guess it was just fate, or something. The will of Omega. We managed to get food and accommodation, everything seemed to be going as well as they could in a slum. But Omega had to remind us. That this _wasn't_ a safe place. Death is simply a part of living in Omega, and I suppose that in a morbid sense we were lucky to learn this without getting physically hurt in the process. If Layla was killed instead of killing someone else, where would of that left me? Not that I wanted to show it, trying to pull a brave face and all, but I don't think I would of been able to handle such a situation on my own.

Soon the running water ceased.

The dark haired girl came out a little bit after, wet hair raked over to the side. It looked like a tangled mess, but I didn't have a comb or a hairbrush to help her out. Layla's eyes were heavy, as if starved by sleep for a month. She wore the tracksuit again, but had the jacket part of the outfit removed, the only thing remaining was the black vest top, and shorts. They appeared damp, and I assumed she attempted to wash out the blood, despite the few freckles of red still staining the material.

I found myself sitting up, as she wandered over to the couch to curl up on the corner of the arm. She held her arms around her shins, pressing her chin on top of her knees.

There was a pregnant pause, and a thick quiet.

For a while, at least. I imagine for a much shorter time than it felt, but it really took a lot of effort to break a silence like that. I probably should have came up with something better to say than the age old, pointless question that never really needs an answer.

"Are… are you alright?" I tried to give her a sympathetic look. I doubt it helped.

I was ready to smack myself with a brick when she didn't answer for a good while. Her eyebrows made the cycle of folding and unfolding, mouth opening and closing. She didn't seem to know what to say, and hell if I was in her position I wouldn't either.

But after a solid minute, Layla finally managed to speak. Her voice was soft. "I'll be okay." Her fingers tightened along her legs. "I just… it's… I feel a little sick."

"Just, don't blame yourself, alright?" I paused, mostly to gauge her response, and make sure I hadn't crossed any boundaries. "It was my fault anyway. It was a stupid idea to split up. I should've thought about the risks."

She mulled over my words, a dry smile ghosting over her mouth for a split second. "We're on Omega, Max." She, albeit bitterly, pointed out. "I'm just lucky it was an ameatuer mugger."

"That doesn't exactly excuse me. I should of at least been there. It shouldn't of been something that _either_ of us should've had to deal with alone." I told her, idly flicking my talons against my knee, unsure exactly where I was going with all of it.

"You couldn't have known, and probably would've gotten shot." She started, icy eyes snapping up to level with mine. "If I had to, I would've done the exact same choice to survive. It's done. We need to move on."

I doubted she fully meant this, more than likely it was an attempt to calm herself down through playing brave to me, something that was rather easy to recognize, considering I had been doing the exact same thing since we had got here.

"Did you get food?" Layla mumbled, changing the subject.

"Yeah. I did." I gestured up to the single pantry box built into the kitchen area's wall. "It's in there. You said you liked noodles, and they were cheap, so…" I trailed off.

She swallowed. I wasn't sure if it was the light, or if her eyes were naturally this shiny, but I could've sworn she was on the verge of crying. It pointed to the latter when her words had a light tremor. "Thank you."

"It's no big deal." Which was true, even if she didn't like noodles they really were the most cost effective food I found that wasn't some really _dire_ mystery meat type thing. "What about you? Any luck finding work?"

Judging by the way she dishearteningly lowered her gaze, she didn't have to say anything. Reluctantly, she still shook her head, worrying her bottom lip. Deciding to actually address and attempt to cheer up the clearly distressed girl, I decided upon placing a hand on her shoulder. I felt her stiffen slightly under my touch, but she didn't shy away.

"It's alright. I'm sure you tried your hardest. Next time, we will go together, and hopefully we will get more success out of our efforts, right?"

It would help that I had a gun to defend us.

Layla inhaled deeply. She hesitated, but eventually bobbed her head in a nod. "Okay."

"I just want you to remember that we are in this together, and that we are going to be looking after each other, alright?"

A shot of confusion flittered across her face, she glanced up at me, brow furrowing. "You barely know me, why would you go through such trouble?"

I gave a noncommittal shrug. "I know you more than I know anyone else here." I tried to look a bit more positive about it all. "And if you really want a logical answer, two heads are better than one, and so forth."

She accepted my explanations, swiftly running a hand through her damp hair with another nod. "I suppose… yeah, you're right. Logically, if we're gonna survive in this mess, we _should_ stick together."

I shot her finger guns, or I suppose talon guns, to lighten the mood. "Now you got it." I switched to a thumbs up. "We might even end up alright."

" _Dork_." She randomly pointed out, but the corner of her mouth curved. It didn't quite reach her eyes, however, it was a start.

"Hey, I'll take that." I slapped my hands on my knees for emphasis. "Tell you what. Once your hair is dry and you're feeling up to it, we go back out there, together, and try to fit in a bit more job hunting. I know you might not be exactly… eager to get back out there-"

"But we need money." She cut me off. "I know. It's important. I don't need to wait for my hair to dry, we can go in a few minutes."

"Cool. That's good. This time will be better, promise."

Layla gave me a strained smile. "Where do you think we should look first? Travelling to the Tuhi district may be ideal."

"Already know the districts by name? Seems like you have picked up a bit more than me. Or just remember more than me. Still useful though. Care to fill me in on what exact district that is?"

"I'm a bit of a nerd, guilty as charged." Layla awkwardly coughed. "I also… wrote fan made stories based on.. Well…" she gave a curt gesture to our room, but I knew she meant the mining station. "Here, so I have some minor information stuck in my head. The Tuhi district is a commercial area, so it would be a good place to start."

This was useful information to have, and was definitely distracting Layla of her troubles. "Sounds like a good place to go, I imagine it's probably safer than… whatever district we are in." I gestured a bit towards the door. "So… we good to go?"

"Let me get my shoes on."

"Right, I can do that." I thought to myself, that perhaps we could make this work.

* * *

Author's Notes

So, uh... what a punctual update, huh? I'm sure this wasn't completely out the left field whatsoever. If it's any consolation the huge delay for this was that as this story is written between me and LeShyWolf, we both got pretty busy for a little while, then just lost communication for a longer while. But we are back! For better or for worse anyway.

That chapter though, right? Some heavy shit, I'm sure. Killing dudes and buying food, we got it all. Except for jobs, as is the norm in the current political climate, right? I don't think it would be a surprise to many to hear that a place like Omega doesn't exactly have benefits or any kind of work scheme. I'm sure it will be fine. Just _fine_

And time for some replies to some reviews likely left by people who forgot they wrote them by this point.

Toothless is best- Let your wait be over, an update has arrived!

Anon- Yeah, I'm sure the other end of this story would be an odd and... _interesting_ read. But, alas, the POV remains locked to our main characters, and it must stay that way, upon threat of death.

Spiritstrike- Yeah, death is pretty much par for the course in Omega. Best deal with it early to toughen yourself up for when you need to be strong, and hope the mental and emotional scarring remains at a minimum.

DrStache- I feel threatened by the alliteration. But this is my turf. Today, I can throw down in a threatening tumultuous manner. AND YOU CANNOT STOP ME. But for reals though, in terms of how it's written, dialogue and character actions made by the protagonists are almost exclusively written by one of us (I do max, LSW does Layla) and anything else is done by about an even split. We build of what each other writes, and change what might already exist for something that could fit better. We don't know each other in real life, LSW messaged me if I wanted to co-author something, I agreed, then we decided on what to write and went from there. Quite simple honestly.

As for the dog? Don't question it. The dog feeds off love, like a cute animal. Or a parasite. Pick whichever you prefer. Don't think I didn't see you throwing shade at me, just fight me man. Do it. I am the senate.


	5. Chapter 5: Job Market

_**Layla**_

 _Bang!_

The noise rang around my skull and I felt my fingers tighten by my sides, teeth gnawing on the inside of my cheek. There was a curt stab of nausea that I had to squash before Max saw the growing grimace of discomfort on my face.

I killed someone.

A sharp exhale came out of my nostrils, and my turian companion caught it, throwing me a questionable glance. The only thing I could do was weakly smile, hating the pitiful glint in his alien eyes. I shouldn't need it.

 _The barrel stared me down, it's gaze was burning into my skull_.

This whole fucking situation was so… abnormal - from glancing into the avian features of the once human boy, to gawking around at the grimey streets, to realising that perhaps this isn't quite my body after all-

To shoot someone blank in the face.

 _He lifelessly fell to the floor, hole in the middle of his forehead._

The sickening taste of bile crawled up my throat, scratching my tongue.

It was one thing to watch death from behind a screen, but to actually view it straight in front of you was a different matter entirely. His face wouldn't leave my brain, burning an eternal image in my mind of what I did. A pang of guilt ate at me as I began to think through his shoes; he was probably just as desperate to survive on Omega as I was. He probably had family. He probably wasn't going to even shoot me, maybe he was trying to just intimidate me...

But….

Given the opportunity, say time rewound itself; I would make the same choice.

I had to survive, no matter the cost.

It was him, or it was me.

 _Besides…_

My eyes glanced to the turian in the corner of my eye, a bittersweet smile twitching in the corner of my mouth.

 _Can't exactly leave this dork alone either._

Despite just having met Max, he was one of the only people who could clearly understand my situation. I would much rather not be here at all, but it was nice to have someone in the same boat next to me- to _help me_. It was reassuring to know that I wasn't completely and utterly alone in this.

Turning my head to the side, my eyes peered around the current area. Large cylinder buildings, embezzled with yellow lights, rose to impossible heights. Neon shop signs above the nearby stores, one being an omni-tool workshop, another being a Tuhi storage. An asari stood in front of one building, selling what appeared to be cheap weapon mods. Her gaze caught mine, and I quickly moved along, jogging to catch up with Max.

I looked over to what looked like a taxi service, with a small building next to a few shuttles. A volus behind the dirt smeared window- which if I had to guess by the weak, blue hue glinting off the glass, it had some form of kinetic barrier to protect the main server or assistant.

It wasn't exactly bustling with a crowd, but had more than a few good people. Most of them were another species. Max and I gathered a few looks, possibly due to our odd duo-ship. A turian and a human. I supposed they thought we were either hired together, I hired him as a bodyguard, or we were significant others. The very last one I knew was somewhat taboo. Not that there were any laws against it, but cultural differences still allowed the shock factor.

"I wish we had the credits for a shuttle." I mumbled to my companion, slightly whining.

"Well we technically kind of do. Just… we really can't have any unnecessary costs right now." Max explained.

It was true, we were _very_ limited on what we could spend our money on. Food was top priority and shelter was second. I would have to put up with the excessive amount of walking we would be doing now. Life was shitty, but it could be worse. A lot worse.

Right now, we needed to put action into our plans. A job was very much desired, just incredibly difficult to get ahold of. Especially since people around here didn't seem… extremely fond of my kind.

I stopped walking, drinking in the foreign sights. After some observing, at a loss I turned slightly to Max, "where do you even wanna _start_?"

Max rubbed his talons against his face, before answering. "I'm not entirely sure. I suppose we want to keep an eye out for more… _legitimate_ work. Work that won't get us into trouble, and that is structured. As close to a regular job as possible, really." He then shrugged a little, "no idea where exactly to find something like that though. And I doubt we will find exactly what we are looking for."

I numbly nodded along to his words but knew it was impossible to find something even remotely white collar. Omega didn't strike me as fair, so the more searching, the sooner we branch out, the better.

"That place?" I lifted my arm, directing Max's green eyes to a noodle place. Lights shone behind the steam, which rose around the stool. A few cruddy metallic chairs were scattered around the shady area, various species seated. A batarian with a white mask covering his mouth stood behind the register, exchanging quick conversation with a customer.

My eyes momentarily drifted to the tables, darting between individuals or groups as I nervously watched out for trouble. A flash of yellow caught my attention, my eyes widening in recognition when they rested on a trio seated by one of the corner booths. Yellow painted armor, worn and battered, yet clearly well maintained. A black sun and a capital 'E' displayed prominently across their chests.

"Max," I mumbled, trying to be subtle as I moved closer to his body. I gently nudged my elbow into his waist, head turned away.

"What? What's the problem?"

I met his gaze, feeling my spine slightly tense. They weren't attacking, they weren't threatening us. I knew the mercs around here didn't randomly grab civilians by the neck and just _kill_ , unless provoked, they were hired to assassinate them or a bystander got caught in a turf war cross fire. Whilst they literally kill to get their uniform and be part of the _family_ it would be bad for business to murder random people.

But that didn't mean I felt more at ease around them. They were an impressive, ruthless force. All of the mercs were.

Leaning more toward him, I put my hand on his shoulder to bring him down to my height, whispering, "the Eclipse are here."

Max turned to face me, looking quizzical. "Yeah? I think that's just something you are going to have to get used to. Mercs and gangs are all over the place."

"It's just a precaution." I responded, albeit uneasily. "If you see someone pull a gun or even hear someone mutter the word _'territory'_ be ready to get the hell outta dodge."

"If it comes to that, sure. Just, 'chill out' I guess. If something bad happens, we will deal with it."

"Alright." Reluctant, I released a soft sigh and followed him as he approached the noodle bar. _Here goes nothing, I guess_.

As the previous customer walked away with a plastic pot of noodles, Max went up and leant against the counter with his elbows, looking relatively calm about the situation, all things considered. "Hey, you got a minute?"

The four eyed man tilted his head up, layered nose scrunching the minute his gaze locked onto my turian companion, and briefly shot to me. There was a sharp edge to his voice, cold and curt. "I don't do dextro food."

"Not here for food, in fact, I'm looking for work. Me and…" Max gestured behind him towards me, I gave a short, relatively sheepish wave, "my good friend over here."

"Not hiring." His simple reply was quick, and he looked away in disinterest, filling a bowl with strands of noodles.

A clear dismissal.

I wasn't ready to accept it.

We were desperate, after all.

"Are you sure you don't have _any_ positions?" I stubbornly piped up, heat bristling under my skin at him just brushing us off like a bug.

"Let me rephrase," all of the batarian's eyes narrowed at my persistence, stopping his movements to give us his full attention. "Fuck off."

My head shrunk back into my neck, disheartened.

"Alright. Fine, I get it, not hiring." Max held his talons in the air, "I will leave you to it. Sorry for bothering you." He then gestured for me to start leaving, and I didn't need to be told twice.

"Sheesh." I shoved my hands into my pockets, we walked to another stool nearby. This one was another noodle place, a rival. It looked slightly better in style, but still appeared to be run by another batarian. More people in his booth too.

He interjected before a word could leave my opening mouth. " _No_."

 _At least he didn't outright tell us to fuck off_.

"Look, do you at least know anyone who _is_ hiring?" Max said in a slightly exasperated tone.

He didn't answer, opting for ignoring our presence. I grit my teeth and felt my fingers curl by my sides, but they slowly relaxed when I forced myself to calm down.

"Come on," I quietly urged Max, swallowing the figurative frog in my throat. "Let's try somewhere else."

"Yeah, we will be sure to find somewhere eventually."

Dubious, I lifted my shoulders, giving him a forced smile. I didn't believe that for a second. Who would hire _me_? Especially since I wasn't even from this century, I didn't know the basics of an omni-tool from the activation of a _door_. Max, on the other hand, seemed to be picking up all this stuff fairly easily. I was envious he adapted to everything so quickly, bewildered that he was even able to keep a certain level of _calm_ inside a body that wasn't even _his_.

There was one job I had in the back of my mind, one so simple I could do in my sleep. I didn't need to know techno-babble to perform such easy tasks. However, I didn't want to retort to _that_ quite yet. We were desperate, but still had some sort of hope.

Around the third job application attempt, I rolled my tongue at the unpleasant woman behind the terminal, who insulted my style in attire before declining. " _If you can't dress yourself properly, I can't expect you to have an understanding in clothes_."

Max had to drag me out.

We moved to another place straight after that, and I let Max lead again instead before I exploded on a potential employer.

" _I'm sorry, we're just not hiring right now._ " That one didn't particularly seem like a dick, they seemed to be genuinely refusing to give us a job due to inaccessibility. " _Come again in a few months, perhaps we'll have an opening."_

This happened in a few other places too.

Other restaurants were too busy for us to even get passed the reservation desk, and they didn't believe us when we claimed we only wanted to speak to the boss. Others just didn't trust us, and gave the excuse that they had recent thieves.

We spent the entire day, or what felt like the entire day, searching every nook and cranny, every orifice; only to find nothing. No one hired us. No one considered us. We got to the stage of straight pleading on our knees.

I grunted, my body roughly colliding with the hard ground. I heard a thud, a heap of weight following after me. One glance told me it was Max, another behind told me that the burly security man (krogan, fittingly) was already wandering back inside the shop.

Of course, since we wouldn't leave, they had to throw us out.

In defeat, my face pressed on the floor, and I groaned out, "that's it. We're done. We're _screwed_."

Mental images came to mind, and in denial I immediately squashed them to the back of my head with a grimace twisting along my face. _No, not yet._

"It wasn't a good day, no." Max lurched slightly, and gave a slight moan of pain. "That krogan hit me too. Not an experience I would like to relive. That being said, I don't think we are _done_ just yet, just on hard times."

A throb pulsated on the side of my head, I rolled over to my back with a wheeze. "Max, _no one_ will hire us. We don't have much food. Our credits are nearly out. We'll get kicked out our room and forced on the streets." I tilted my exhausted eyes to the side so he couldn't see, feeling them sting. "We're _done_."

"Don't say that." Max said as he lifted himself into a sitting position.

"I'm being realistic." I had to pause, clenching my jaw, the lump in my throat making it hard to speak. "We can't survive out here."

"Look. Times are tough. This is very obvious. But if we just give up like that, it's no fault but our own."

He had a point, but I was already knee-deep in cynicism. I heard my voice croak. My vision blurred, "what's the point of trying if the reapers are just going to kill us _anyway_?"

A contrast to my disheartened, negative view, Max was optimistic. It was kind of refreshing. "That's not a point, nor an argument. Everyone dies at some point, nobody is immortal. That _might_ happen, and I will do my best to avoid it, I certainly don't want to die, but if it happens, at least I can say that I tried my best."

Dully, I moved my head to peek out from beneath my hair, which had fell in a curtain around my face. A tight squeeze was in my chest as nostalgia washed through me. A memory echoed in my mind, and my heart sunk.

" _Two wolves, Layla_." _His eyes twinkled, an encouraging smile curving his lips. "Who are you going to let win?"_

Dammit, old man.

"I know, I know," I grumbled, more to myself than to Max. I stood, then reached my hand up toward him. I craned my neck, feeling the ache in my muscles. _It's been a long day_. "Little help?"

"Yeah, that would be great, thanks." He replied, taking my hand to help pull himself up.

I acted as though my mini break down didn't happen, placing my hands on my hips.

"So, where should we check now?"

"I don't know, if you have any ideas, any at all, they might be helpful. Even if you might think them as silly, who knows? The world is a silly place sometimes."

I had a few ideas.

Feeling my heart skip a beat, I shakily fidgeted. "There's the Blue Suns, they recruit people right? Dangerous but hey, beggars can't be choosers." I shook my head. "There's also another option, if you wanna be open minded."

"What's the other option? I know the Suns are recruiting, but I don't think something like that would be best for us right now."

"Aria." I blurted. "Her club."

"Afterlife, right? You think we could get work there?"

I shrugged. "It's worth a shot, we've tried everywhere else."

"That's true. I imagine it would be pretty good to get a job there, working under the person that basically runs the whole station must have its benefits."

" _If_ we get the job."

"Right, and I suppose that is the big if." Max dusted himself off slightly, before continuing, "I suppose we should get going then, unless you have anything you want to do first."

"No, let's go."

So we did.

The minute my foot stepped into the club, warmth, sweat and the stench of booze engulfed me. Music drowned the entire place, bouncing off the walls. Afterlife always resembled a darker, grittier Chora's Den to me, specifically the roundness. The second noticeable thing was obviously the dancers, swaying and curving their bodies in a sultry manner atop the large, circular bar. It was hard to miss the scantily clad, blue women. Their skin tight outfits clinging to their fit bodies. I looked away when I received view of intimate areas I didn't really want to see.

If I wanted porn, I would've asked Max to bring it up on the omni-tool.

Craning my head, I took in the impressive structure. There was a second floor, featuring a huge opening in the center and more asari dancers that writhed and wiggled on a big ring suspended from the ceiling, snaking the large cylinder like a catwalk. It had a purple hue, glowing like a beacon amongst the bar.

Moving my neck back further, I saw a balcony coiling on the edge of the walls, flaming torches hanging from the rim.

At the back, which appeared guarded by two krogan and a couple turians, I could only assume was Aria's quarters that overlooked her bar. Afterlife fulfilled my expectations, and more.

"It's smells….urgh," I cringed, leaning back a bit and pinching my nose for a second or two. _This is probably a lot more enjoyable for my male friend_. "Musky."

"That is definitely one way to put it." Max stretched out slightly, turning to me. "So, what's the plan?"

"I'd say approach Aria but…" Nervously, I gulped. "I don't think _we_ speak to _her_. I think _she_ chooses who can even look at her, let alone have a conversation. So this may… prove difficult."

"I doubt she involves herself much if at all with regular staff. I think asking around the workers here would be a better plan than trying to go for the head honcho step one."

"Yes, we should do that." I agreed to his plan. "Should we do it together… or…?"

Max swiveled his head to peer down at me with a casual shrug. "Might as well go together, no reason not to."

"Okay, I say we approach her first." I pointed to the asari at the bar. Distinguishable facial tattoos, dark violet coating her lips. She was leaning over, hand swirling in a repetitive motion with a cloth between her fingers. "Ask her, then the other staff if she just says," I deepened my voice, mimicking the jerks that turned us down before, " _no_."

"I imagine she would know at least the right direction to push us in, and I doubt they will be openly hostile, bartending isn't exactly a job where you can get by if you are an ass to your customers."

I waved my arm outward. "Lead the way, maestro."

Max nodded. "Sure, I can do that." And he went over to the bar, trying as hard as possible to look approachable and upstanding. The asari bartender at least took notice of him, and went over.

"What'll it be?" She politely inquired, putting her cleaning cloth underneath the counter to give him her full attention. I peered around his arm, sending her a friendly, but tired smile.

"Well, work, if you have it. See, me and my friend here are looking for someplace where we can actually make money, and we were hoping Afterlife might be hiring. Would you be able to point us in the right direction?"

For the most part, her face was calmly stoic, not giving away to any irritation she may have been feeling like our previous potential employers. Her hand rose, pointing us to a turian who was sitting in a corner booth.

She nodded his way, response short but less harsh than others on this hellish rock. "Talk to Aetius,"

"Right, thanks." Max turned to me, "So, shall we go then?"

My answer was a silent nod, and we both sauntered over to this… _Aetius_.

Upon closer inspection, I noticed faint orange markings along his beige face. A particular shape between his eyes that resembled a diamond, along with streaks next to his mandibles. I noticed his razor-sharp amber eyes lazily moved to the movement in his peripheral, being us, before returning to his cards.

His companion, a barely modest asari dancer (I guessed they were all on break) slapped her cards down on the table, "fold."

"So easily, Zelana?" Amusement tinged his flanged, husky voice. The turian leaned back on his chair, talon resting along the arm of the seat.

"You cheat, you bastard." Her nose wrinkled, distasteful in demeanour. "I'm cutting my losses while I still can."

Aetius gave a low chuckle, mandibles twitching with mirth. He placed his playing cards along the table, face up. Zelana scoffed in aggravation at the result, shaking her head. She muttered something under her breath when the asari stood, giving up in this game.

"Good luck if you wanna gamble, kid." She briefly grunted my way, moving past.

"Are you here to play?" The raised question brought my attention back to the avian creature. He wasn't looking at me, merely shuffling his cards. He appeared casual, tone civil.

"Looking for work, actually. We were told to talk to you about it."

The mysterious turian nodded slowly, placing his cards down. Absent-mindedly, he waved his talon to the opposite seat, where the asari sat. "Take a seat."

I did as was told, parking my rear. I fidgeted in my spot when he stared me down, gaze piercing. My friend awkwardly stood behind me, seeing as there was only one chair. "Hi, Aetius. My name is Layla, this is my friend Max-"

"Unfortunately, Layla." He suddenly drawled, interjecting. My stomach fluttered anxiously, clammy hands folding in my lap. "We only have room for one more." His intense eyes drifted between us, "I count two of you."

"Oh, right. What would the job fully entail, if you don't mind me asking?" Max responded to the information quickly, trying to save face.

The turian straightened and clasped his six fingers, adopting a professional manner. "Usually I wouldn't waste time on fresh meat but recently an employee had an… incident." He droned, as if more irritated than concerned over this, "due to these events, we have an open audition for a new dancer, particularly for something new and…" his eyes scaled me, my breath hitched, " _different._ "

"What about bartending?" I asked, suppressing the urge to bite into my lip. _Different? As in a new species? I didn't see an awful lot of humans, mainly asari, so maybe..._

"We're already full on bartenders." His light hearted statement dampened my excitement for getting both Max and I hired.

"You can't… are you sure-"

"I am certain," he cut me off, ungracious. He picked his cards back up, making the motions of intermixing them. "Reach a decision, and I'll make the arrangements for your audition with Aria."

Max breathed out, sounding a bit uncomfortable, "alright, we'll do that and get back to you."

The turian didn't react, ignoring his company. The chair creaked, the weight disappearing as I stood. I walked to the side with Max, and then stared up at him, uncertain.

"It's one job, and I'm not happy about it but it's _something_." I offered weakly. "But… what about you?"

"It's pretty obvious Aetius already made the decision, and I'm pretty sure male turian dancers are not exactly high in demand? I just want to make sure you are comfortable with this."

"I'd give it the old college try, if it's any consolation." I threw him a feeble grin.

In truth, no, I wasn't comfortable. But dancing was my passion back home, and I could probably integrate it into this as a way to get money. It wasn't the way I _wanted_ to get a job or career with my dancing but it was food money, dammit, it was _rent_ money.

We needed this.

I had to do it.

"I have to do this." I tried to speak with conviction, attempting not to wince.

"I just don't want you to feel like I'm forcing you to do this."

I shook my head. "This is my choice."

"Let's go inform Aetius then. Get it out of the way."

"Alright," we walked back, I leaned my hand on the table with a frown and opened my mouth.

He glanced up, and he already seemed to know my answer. Aetius spread his mandibles slightly. Due to my inexperience with alien expressions, I could only guess it was a smile, of some sort. "Excellant. I will arrange your audition. When are you next free?"

 _I literally have no life now, so eternally._ "All the time, I'm unbelievably flexible."

At my words, his brows twitched and I realised how that sounded. My cheeks flamed, but he seemed unbothered. "How about-" there was a ping, he stopped and brought up his omni-tool. Aetius blinked a few times, sending a glance of to the side, "oh, hm, how about that. She'll see you now."

" _Now_?" I gaped, jaw falling slack. Right this minute?! Didn't I get to prep?! Why didn't I get time? How did she even know I was here to audition? Why was she bothering to take notice?!

My eyes snapped up to the back of the bar, and higher, to where Aria would be standing. I found someone, a silhouette I couldn't really make out from here, leaning along the wall facing my direction.

 _Is that… Aria?_

"You just claimed you were flexible," he pointed out, "you don't want to keep Aria T'loak waiting, human. I'd hurry along if you want the job."

Sending Max a mildly distressed sideways glance, I took a deep breath and began to walk to her office, Aetius trailing behind me, Max stared after me. With every step, I felt like I was being weighed down to an anchor. My heart sunk, and I wondered why I was allowing myself into this.

We approached the back until a krogan came into view.

"Grak." Aetius's deep voice was startlingly louder, indicating his close proximity, but I didn't look at him. I could feel his arm brushing against mine. "This human is here to audition for Ba'sana's old position."

The krogan he addressed gave a rough snort when he caught sight of my figure. There was a light pressure on my lower back, nudging me forward. I obeyed. The bulky mass stepped toward me and I felt my heart skip a beat. Grak brought his omni-tool up, practically inches from my face. I squinted through the irritating light and questioned if he was doing it just to annoy me.

A miniature scale of my body drifted in a circular motion above his arm as he scanned me. It took longer than I anticipated, causing my nerves to jitter uneasily the more lengthy the wait became.

"Clean, take her through." He gruffly commanded to the turian behind me. Aetius complied, and I carefully counted backwards in my head in a fetal attempt to calm myself.

 _Calm, Layla. Don't cry. Don't scream. Don't freak out. Just keep calm and you'll get through this._

"This way." Aetius's rough mandibles brushed the side of my ear. Goosebumps spiked on the back of my neck.

He brought me to what looked like a lounge.

I nearly collapsed over my own feet.

The pirate queen of Omega slouched on the cushions, leg folded over the other whilst her arm comfortably rested on the spine of her couch. At first glance, she appeared relaxed, but if you looked again, you could see the ever so slightly tensing of her jaw. Her eyes were painfully alert and searching over her club. Her body ready and on guard for an attack, a pistol in her holster. Though I severely doubted she really needed it, if she was as powerful a biotic as she claimed.

Aetius cleared his throat, drawing her attention.

Her steely gaze fixed on me, and I nearly forgot how to breathe.

Aria T'loak.

* * *

Author's Notes

So here is an actual on time update! Crazy, I know. But anywho, it would seem that the team is so desperate for work that Layla is willing to essentially demean herself for money. While Max continues to be unemployed, like the 100% hero-I-swear that he is. Not that he hasn't tried of course, but there is still one job he knows is open, it's just a question of whether or not he is willing to take that colossal risk.

Anyway, this is author's notes, so I might as well write what I'm sure is the only reason people read these, being review responses.

Anon- Yeah, that's the most likely circumstance. Even if you buy yourself nice food it's just going to end up being the dog's anyway. How could somebody say no to a dog? Just not possible, I swears it.

Spiritstrike- She isn't doing great, no. But, due to just how dire the situation is, they don't really have the luxury of freaking out too much right now. And yeah, that Blue Suns offer. It's got pay, on the job training, the whole shebang. Just the whole problem of 'you will likely die'. I'm sure it will work out though, it must.

Toothless is best- It's a fair criticism of Max to be sure, but you have to understand Max and Layla are different people. Max is much more laid back and willing to accept a situation, while Layla is much more cautious and has a more difficult time coming to terms with a situation. It's also worth noting that neither of these traits are superior to the other, Max's more laid back attitude has allowed him to integrate himself into this world with ease, picking up a greater understanding of how to function, but on the other hand this could be to blame for situations like Layla getting mugged, as he is less able to see threats coming.

DrStache- Yeah, they seem to be able to function well enough for now. It's more of a question of just how long they can last until all the bad things really eat away at them, and whether or not they will come out the other side the same. And that's also true, Max hasn't really had a properly 'bad day' yet, though I'm just sure he will get some wacky unemployed hijinks.

See you guys next time, where things may or may not happen!


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